1. (Sept. Na/3w, v. r. 'Sn(3av and [in Isa.] even Aaywv ; Vulg. N'abo.) The title of a Chaldajan idol or god which occurs both in Isaiah (xlvi, 1) and Jeremiah (xlviii, 1), being the name of a well-known deity of the Babylonians and Assyrians. The original native name was, in Hamitic Babylonian, Nabiu ; in Shemitic Baby- lonian and Assyrian, Xabu. It is reasonably con- jectured to be connected with the Hebrew X35, " to prophesy" (see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 841), whence thecommon word N"'n2," prophet" (Arab. .Ve6;y). Nebo was the god who presided over learning and letters. He is called " the far-hearing," " he who possesses in- telligence," " he who teaches or instructs." (Tcnerally, however, he enjoys the high-sounding titles of -'Lord of lords," " Holder of the sceptre of power," etc. Hence Laj'ard thinks the name is derived from the Egyptian Neb, " Lord" {Xineveh and Bab. p. 77). The wedge or arrow-head — the essential element of cuneiform writing — appears to have besn his emblem; and hence he bore
KEBO
89G
NEBO
J[_ J2_ tlie name of Th; which signifies "a shaft ^\ ^T- or arrow.' His general character corre- : C u n e a t i c spontls to that of the Egyptian Thol/t, the i form of the Greek Jlermes, and the Latin Mtrcui-y. ! ivM^eSebo. Astronomically he is identified with the ' planet nearest the sun, called Nebo also by the Menda;- ans, and Tir by the ancient Persians.
Nebo was of Babylonian rather than of Assyrian origin. In the early Assyrian Tanlheon he occupies a very inferior position, being either omitted from the lists altogeth- er, or occurring as the last of the minor gods. The king supposed to be Pul first brings him prominently forward in Assyria, and then apparently in conse- quence of some pecul- iar connection which he himself had with Babylon. A statue of Nebo was set up by this monarch at Ca- lah (Nimrud), which is now in the Britisli Mu- seum. It has a long inscription, written across the body, and consisting chiefly of the god's various epi- thets. In Babylonia Neboheld a prominent place from an early time. Tlie ancient town of Borsippa Avas especially under his protection, and the great temple there (the modern Birs-Nimrud) was dedicated to him from a very remote age. See Babel, Tower of. He was the tutelar god of the most important Babylonian kings, in whose names tlie word Nabu, or Nebo, appears as an element: e. g. Nabo-nassar, Nabopolassar, Nebu-chadnezzar, and Nabo- iiadius or Lal)ynetus: and appears to have been honored next to Belmerodach by the later kings. Ncl)uchad- nezzar cfimpletoly rebuilt his temple at Borsijjpa, and called after him his famous seaport upon the I'ersian fiulf, which became known to the (ireeks as Teredon or Diridotis — "given to Tir," i. e. to Nebo. The worship of Nebo appears to have continued at Borsippa to the 3d or 4th century after Christ, and the Saba-ans of Ila- ran may have preserved it even to a later date. (See liawlinsou's Herodotus, i, 637-040 ; and his A ncient Mon- archies, i, 140 sq. ; and compare Norberg's Onomasticon, 8. v.; Cliwolson, <S'«Wc/-,- Miinter, /)'a6j//')HjV7(, p. 15.)
2. (Sept. ^a(iav ; Vulg. Xebo.) A name of the moun- tain (in) from which Moses took his first and last view of the Promised Land (Deut. xxxii, 49; xxxiv, 1). It is so minutely described that it would seem impossible not to recognise it: in tlie landof iMoab; facing Jericho; the head or simimit of a mountain called "the Pisgah," wliich again seems to liave formed a portion of the general range of the "mountains of Abarim." Its po- sition is further denoted by the mention of the valley (or perhaps more correctly the ravine) in which Moses was buried, and which was apparently one of the clefts of the mount itself (xxxii, .oO) — "the ravine in the land of Moal) facing Belh-Peor" (xxxiv, G). Josephus, speaking of the death of Closes, says of Abarim, " It is a very high mountain opposite Jericho, and one that affords a prospect of the greater part of Canaan" (.•lH^ iv, 8, 48). Eusebius and Jerome sav that Nebo is a
Image of Nebo. (In the British Museum.)
mountain " over the Jordan opposite Jericho in ^loab, . . . and until this day it is shown in the sixth mile west of I leshbon" {Onomast. s. v. Nabau). In another place they locate it between Heshbon and Livias {ibid. 8. V. Abarim). Gesenius derives the name Nebo from the root nil, " to project ;" and hence ""5 would sig- nify aprojeciion (I'hesuurus, p. 841). Others trace the name to the heathen deity Xtbo, and suppose that there was an ancient high i)lacc on the peak where that deity was worshipped (Stanley, p. 294). For fidler informa- tion, see Kitter, Pal. vnd Syr. ii, 117G sq., 1186 sq.; Porter, IJ ami-book, p. '299 ; Drew, Scripture Lands, p. 96 ; Keland, Paliest. p. 342, 496.
Yet, notwithstanding the minuteness of the scriptural descriptions, till lately no one succeeded in p<pinting out any spot which answers to Nebo. Viewed from the western side of Jordan (the nearest point at which most travellers are able to view them) the mountains of ^loab present the appearauce of a wall or cliff, the upper line of which is almost straight and horizontal. "There is no peak or point perceptiblj' higher than the rest; but all is one apparently level line of summit without peaks or gaps " (Hobinson, Bib. lies, i, 570). " On nc distingue pas un sommet, pas la moindre cime; scidcraent on aper9oit, 911 et la, tie legeres inflexions, comme si la main du ptintre qui a truce cefte litpie horizontule sur h del eut tremble dans quelques end7'oits" (Chateaubriand, Itineraire, part 3). "Possibly," continues Pobinson, "on travelling among these mountains, some isolated point or summit might be found answering to the po- sition and character of Nebo." Three such points have been named.